Flames on the Holodeck
by Vestal Virgin
Summary: Takes place immediately following "The Fight." Kathryn worries about Chakotay's state of mind after his experiences in chaotic space. She finds him on the holodeck not in the boxing simulation he was supposed to be using, but struggling with his memories of his grandfather and the family curse. Rated M!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and characters belong to Paramount/CBS. I just like to make them happier. **

Kathryn had walked with Chakotay as he made his way to the holodeck dressed for his boxing training program. The Doctor managed to suppress the gene for the cognitive disorder again after they escaped chaotic space, but she was still concerned. Chakotay was so frightened of turning into his grandfather, a "crazy old man" as he had called him. She had pushed him to give in to the hallucinations so he could communicate with the aliens and try to rescue the ship.

Twenty minutes later, she found herself standing in front of the doors to the holodeck. Her mind would not let go of the images of her steady, calm, and controlled First Officer raving and scared. She would think of some excuse for her visit if he asked, but for now she just had to see him again and reassure herself that he was really okay.

She punched in her security code and stepped through the doors. She expected to find a simulation of Starfleet Academy's boxing training center. Instead, she found herself standing on a rocky path that cut through a densely wooded landscape. The low sun above her indicated the simulation was set late in the day, and the air temperature was warm and mildly humid. She knew Chakotay was here because she had asked the computer before she came, but she had no idea where "here" was.

She considered turning around and leaving, but the fact that the holodeck program being run was not the one he had told her he was going to use, or had dressed for, only increased her concern. She took a last look toward the exit and then set her feet to follow the path.

It wasn't long before she could smell water, fresh water judging by the lack of a salty tang. She stepped over a fallen log, rounded a bend in the trail, and stood gazing out over a small lake. The trees cast long shadows that undulated across the water's surface. No structures were in sight, although she could see other paths across the way that might lead to simulations set back in the woods. Off to her left, she spotted Chakotay lying on his back with his feet in the gently lapping waves at the shoreline.

She walked toward him and noticed he was not wearing a shirt. As she drew closer, she realized he was not wearing the gray shorts he had on earlier, either. He was in only a pair of black boxer briefs, his skin still glistening from an apparent swim. She stopped where she was and stood hesitantly.

"What are you doing here, Kathryn?" he asked. He hadn't looked at her, but of course, he would recognize her footsteps just as she did his. His voice sounded heavy, weary.

She was supposed to make up an excuse, but upon seeing the odd change in programs and hearing the timbre of his words, she spilled the truth. "I was worried about you. I wanted to see you."

She heard his sigh even across the space still remaining between them. "I'm fine." He had never been a good liar, especially with her.

"I'm not buying it," she said. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to box."

"I was, but my head wasn't in it."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I never even got in the ring."

She was uncomfortable with his dress, or rather, state of undress, but her worry won out. She crossed the short distance, sat down in the sand beside him, and took off her jacket. "What is this place, Chakotay?"

"Kathryn?"

"Yes?"

"You do realize I'm in my underwear, right?"

The corner of her mouth curled slightly. "I do realize that, but I did use my security override to enter without your permission. I don't really have a right to comment on what I find." She kept her eyes looking out over the lake. "Within reason," she added.

"Fine," he said.

"You didn't answer my question. Where are we?"

"Somewhere I never bring anybody."

She turned to look at him, seeing a guardedness in eyes and the set of his jaw. "Convince me you're okay, and I'll leave."

"No, I'm sorry. You don't have to go." He sat up and bent the knee closest to Kathryn, pulling his leg up to at least somewhat cover his exposed state. He gazed out over the water and said, "This is where I grew up. This is Dorvan."

She studied the lush, green woodland, the rugged natural beauty of the sandy shoreline and rocky pathways, and the dark water. "It's lovely. So, this is the lake you told me about that you played in as a child?"

He ran his hand over his still damp hair and attempted to wipe the sand from his back and shoulders. "Yes. My house is over there." He pointed across the water to the right where she could see a faint break in the trees that must indicate another trail. "Incidentally," he said, "that's where my clothes are, too. I took the path to the house and swam here."

"At least you didn't decide to swim nude," she said with a smile. She heard a brief chuckle from him before it faded. "I really am concerned, Chakotay. What you went through, what you did for us, was taxing both physically and emotionally."

"The Doctor re-suppressed the gene."

"Maybe so, but he didn't suppress the memories of what you experienced." She saw a flash of emotion cross his features. "That's why you're here, isn't it?"

He silently drew circles in the sand before finally resting his arm on his knee and answering quietly, "Yes. I was thinking about my grandfather."

She laid her hand on his arm and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For pushing you to give in to the hallucinations. For making you face the possibility of turning into him. I saw how frightened you were."

"You did what you had to do for the ship. If you hadn't pushed me, we would still be trapped in chaotic space, or possibly even dead by now. Actually, I should thank you."

"For what?"

"Thank you for believing in me. Even when everyone else thought I was a raving lunatic and about to put the ship in more danger, you trusted me."

"I do trust you, Chakotay, and I have always believed in you. The things we experience out here in the Delta Quadrant do not always make sense. That's when we have to rely on what we know to be the truth about each other."

"And what truth is that?"

She pulled her hand back from his arm and turned her head toward the lowering sun. "That even when you're hallucinating and maddened, I trust you with my life."

He didn't reply, only sat staring off into the distance. She was beginning to wonder if she should get up and leave when he said, "Keep watching the water." The sun was a barely visible arch above the horizon, and she continued to gaze out over the scene. As the last edge of orange sank below sight, a brilliant purple and dark blue flare raced across the lake and through the trees, coloring every leaf, stone, and speck of sand. In seconds it was gone, and she gasped, "Beautiful!" A pale glow was now coming from behind them, and she turned to see a large moon just above the forest.

"It happens only two or three times a year," he said. "The whole colony used to gather on the lakeshore on those days to watch the sunset together. The elders would tell stories and hold special ceremonies. It was considered a sacred time. My grandfather was never happier, before or after his illness set in, than on those days."

"What causes it?" she asked with awe.

"There are ancient volcanic vents across the lake. A few times a year, the gasses still trapped underground build enough pressure to escape the vents. The heavier compounds resettle close to the ground, and the sunset hits at just the right angle to cause the flare of light. It will all dissipate by the next day."

Kathryn felt the humidity begin to lower and the air cooled slightly. He turned to face her. "Would you like to see the house?"

"I would love to. Do I have to swim?"

He grinned and said, "No, but I think I should. You can take the shore around. It's dark, but there won't be anything in your path, and there's enough moonlight you can keep from going in the water. I'll stay close so you can see me and follow me to the trail."

She stood up and brushed the sand from her pants, and then her palms. She turned and waited for him to get up, but he only raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, right," she laughed as she glanced over his bare chest and legs, the black underwear stretched tightly over his buttock. She set off along the shore, her back to him, and he got up to enter the water. The holodeck simulation of the water level was shallow, coming to just above his hips. He waded in and began to breaststroke until he was ahead of her but easily within sight. He stretched out on his side and lazily kicked his legs to stay on the surface. She was finding her way in the dark without difficulty, though she would turn to spot him every few seconds.

He was soon even with the path to the house and stood in the water to point it out to her. She nodded her head, and he walked up the shore and into the trees. She tried not to glance at him as he did, but she couldn't resist watching him. The moonlight shone off his dark hair and bronze skin, beads of water glistening as they rolled down his muscular body. Just seeing him in uniform often made her sit up straighter in her seat; the sight of him in nothing but a pair of wet, black boxer briefs reminded her just how long she had been holding out against her attraction to Chakotay. Embarrassed by her own reaction, she blew out her breath and focused on the entrance to the path. When she made the turn, she caught a glimpse of him walking up a set of three steps before he disappeared into the small white house, leaving the door open for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Kathryn entered the house into a cozy kitchen dominated by a round, blonde wood table in the center of the room. She could see a den area through one doorway and a hallway through another. When her boots echoed on the wooden floor, he came from the hall in a thick, short, gray bathrobe, rubbing his hair with a towel. He tossed the towel over a chair back and picked up a bottle of red wine and two glasses from the counter, passing her a look. "Thank you," she said as she laid her jacket in the same chair as his towel and then she sat on the other side of the table. He set a glass in front of her and poured the wine. "Holographic or synthehol?" she asked.

"Holographic. I didn't know I was coming here." He leaned against the counter beside her, his toned legs and bare feet drawing her eyes down his body involuntarily.

She sampled the wine and forced her eyes back up to his face. "It's good, anyway." She looked around the kitchen and what she could see through the doorways. "This is the house you grew up in?"

"Yes. The simulation is not as detailed as it could be, but it's close enough. I also programmed it to sit closer to the lake, but not by much." He looked toward the hallway. "Would you like to see the rest of it?"

She stood up and followed him across the hallway and into the first bedroom. There was a single bed and a worn, brown chair, but not much else in the room. "This was my father's room. I didn't bother to program a lot of the furniture in the house; just enough to make it feel like home." The next room was his sister's, the bed covered with a quilt of soft pastel colors, and then she saw a small bathroom. His bedroom, with a larger soft bed, and another bath were down a short hallway that ran behind the kitchen. They entered the den from the end, and she could see piles of pillows and a couple of woven blankets in the center of the room in front of a fireplace. There was also a large woven rug in bright colors that covered most of the wooden floor. "When I was a kid, I usually lay on cushions on the floor in here. That's why there's no other furniture. If you don't mind the pillows, we can sit in here, or we can go back to the kitchen."

"This will be fine," she said, settling onto a round red cushion. "This house feels very comfortable."

He lowered himself to a faded blue pillow, carefully keeping his robe closed as he did so. The top had loosened from the belt a bit and she could see the muscles of his broad, bare chest through the V of the wrap. He pulled a smaller cushion into his lap and set his wine on the floor. He looked down and said, "This was my favorite pillow as a kid. I don't know why, but I loved it. I always sat or lay on it when I was growing up. That's why it looks a bit worse for wear. I programmed it to look like I remembered it." His sheepish smile dimpled his face.

She grinned and said, "I have a blanket with a picture of dogs on it. My parents gave it to me for Christmas when I was four-years old. It's still at my mother's house. I miss it sometimes when I could use the comfort."

He nodded knowingly, and said, "Computer, activate fireplace, no heat." The flames danced across the simulated logs and cast a soft glow around the room. Quietly, he said, "My father had to seal off the fireplace after my grandfather almost set the house on fire twice. He thought he was building a bonfire in the woods. We tried everything to keep him away from it, but eventually the danger was too great that he could burn the house down and maybe hurt himself or someone else."

She studied him for a moment, the faraway look in his eyes tugging at her heart. "It must have been a difficult thing to deal with at a young age."

"I never understood him. I still don't. Two hyposprays a day would have been all he needed, but he refused to take the medicine. He preferred his own diagnosis of a wounded spirit rather than the medical knowledge of a genetic mutation. Instead of him accepting treatment, the whole village had to tolerate his ravings and wanderings. I would be left in charge of him some days when the adults were too busy. I would have to make sure he ate, try to keep him from wandering off, and make sure he didn't do anything dangerous. I was just a kid, and I resented him so much for that."

She watched as his fingers picked at the blanket beside him. She was beginning to understand that his experience with chaotic space was forcing him to face something with which he had never really come to terms: his feelings about his grandfather and the genetic disorder that ran in his family.

Chakotay continued. "The thing is, I don't know if what I experienced with the aliens is really anything like what he went through. The aliens deliberately turned on the gene and manipulated my hallucinations toward a purpose. My grandfather's delusions were random. If there is any similarity, though, I have a lot more sympathy now."

She reached between them and took his hand, something she only did in private and then, only rarely. "There probably are some similarities, especially in the way you felt at the beginning before you knew that there was a reason for what you were experiencing."

He toyed with the pillow in his lap, and his voice was almost a whisper. "I hate to think that my grandfather ever felt that alone."

She leaned toward him and gripped his hand tighter. "You were never alone, Chakotay. Even if it had turned out that your symptoms were occurring naturally, or the Doctor had not been able to turn off the gene again, I never would have left you to deal with it alone."

He squeezed her hand and finished off his wine. "I wonder if my grandfather knew that he wasn't alone. I did resent him and what I couldn't understand about him, but I still loved him. We all did."

"I'm sure he knew that," she said, trying to comfort him. "He did have some times when he was normal, didn't he? When he could understand what was going on around him?"

"Yes, he did. He would have whole days, sometimes up to a week, when he was himself. It was not until the very end that he entered a constantly psychotic state."

The computer's voice cut through the space. "You have fifteen minutes remaining."

Chakotay started to loosen his grip on Kathryn's hand, but she held to him and said, "Computer, is the time allotted after this program currently scheduled for anyone?"

"Negative."

"Computer, schedule out the next three hours, authorization Janeway-beta-five. Continue running current program."

"Time allotted."

"Are privacy locks still engaged?"

"Affirmative."

"Kathryn, you don't have to that," Chakotay said. "You should save your time for something you want to do."

"I am doing something I want to do." She smiled at him, her blue eyes reflecting the yellow flames of the fireplace. "I'm not due on the bridge until morning, and you are supposed to be taking a day or two off, anyway. You're always after me to take more time away from my duties. You aren't going to protest now, are you?"

He tightened his hold on her hand again and said, "Not if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Thank you. Would you like more wine?"

"Just a minute," she said to him. "Janeway to Lt. Tuvok."

"Yes, Captain?"

"You have the bridge and all non-emergency communications for the next three hours. I will be on the holodeck."

"Understood, Captain."

"Janeway out. Computer, transport a bottle of Cabernet from my quarters to my current location."

The bottle appeared on the floor just beside her. He shook his head at her and laughed. She grinned, her easy smile lightening his mood as only she could do. She asked, "Do you have a corkscrew, or should I have one created?"

"There's one in the kitchen drawer beside the outside door." She carried the bottle into the other room, found the corkscrew, and opened the wine. When she returned, Chakotay was lying back on the pillows. He had moved the cushion off his lap and crossed his ankles, his robe carefully arranged to cover him. She set the wine on the floor, untucked her shirt, and removed her boots before settling back down beside him. He handed his glass to her and she filled it, then refilled her own and tasted the wine. "That's better," she sighed.

"I thought you said the other one was good," he chided.

"Good for holographic wine, but this is better."

He chuckled and rose up on his elbow to drink from his glass. She gathered a couple of smaller pillows, fluffed the one she was sitting on, and stretched out on her back beside him. Their hands found each other again and his fingers wrapped over hers. From this angle, she could see the stars twinkling in the sky through the window.

"It's very quiet," she said.

"I decided to leave off the simulated wildlife. The animals in and around the lake can actually get quite noisy on a summer's night. Visitors from the trading station would often have trouble sleeping."

"I used to love to swim at night when we were at Lake George," she said. "There was something about being in the water in the moonlight with the stars in the summer sky so bright."

He turned his head and smiled at her. "That was one of my favorite activities, too. I would stay in the lake as long as I possibly could. My father would finally have to make me come out when he was getting ready to go to bed. Sometimes, I would sneak back out after he was asleep."

"Let's do it, Chakotay."

"Let's do what?"

"Let's go swimming."

"Really?"

"Yes. I can't remember that last time I went swimming, much less at night."

He wanted to ask just what she was planning to wear to swim in, but decided to wait and see what she did. He assumed she would have the computer create a bathing suit. "Alright, let's go," he said with a grin. "I'll be right out."

That answered her question. He had taken off the boxer briefs to let them dry, and was likely fully nude under the robe. She tried to push that image out of her mind and stood up. She wondered what to do now. She contemplated a holo-bathing suit, pants and tank, tank and underwear, and even for a split second, nude. She watched him walk into the hallway to his bedroom and made up her mind. She went directly outside and removed her socks, pants, turtleneck, and bra.


	3. Chapter 3

Chakotay came out with the robe still around him and saw her standing there in her tank and underwear, her back turned to him. She looked back at him over shoulder, and her face lit with the mischievous smile he loved so much. His cheeks dimpled, and he dropped the robe, striding toward her confidently in the black boxer briefs she had seen him in earlier. He watched her hips swaying as she made her way to the shore and followed her out into the lake. He stopped in the approximate center of the water and lay on his back, drifting on the surface as he looked up at the simulated night sky that was so familiar to him.

He listened to the splash of her movements as she swam through the water, the full holo-moon providing plenty of soft light for them to see by. In a couple of minutes, the splashing quieted, and he saw out of the corner of his eye that she was floating on her back off to his left. He never would have believed that Kathryn would be so comfortable with him, and he struggled to keep his head pointed toward the stars instead of staring at her form. He loved to see her completely relax and take a break from her duties. It so rarely happened, and he was determined not to make it awkward for her. He would keep his distance and let her have her fun in the water.

At least, that was his intention. Before he had time to register her movements, she was swimming toward him and stood up just beside him. He lowered his hips until his feet touched the bottom, and then leaned his head back to sweep the water from his hair. The water level came up to her waist, and he could see the curve of her breasts and her nipples through the wet tank, her red hair darkened and slicked back off her face, her cobalt eyes shining in the moonlight. Gods, she was beautiful! They had flirted with each other off and on for years, but it was never openly acknowledged or pushed too far. He wondered if she even realized what, exactly, he could see of her shape.

She raised her arms to squeeze the water from her hair and asked, "What else is around the lake?"

He cleared his throat and said, "Mostly just homes. I told you already about the gas vents." He pointed back up the trail where she had entered the holodeck. "Off that way was the village proper, with more dwellings and a few businesses. It was really quite small. Beyond it was the trading station, and in the next colony down the road was the shuttle port."

"And I thought I grew up rural in Indiana," she said with a chuckle.

He grinned and said, "Rural for Earth, maybe, but not here. That's why I left to attend the Academy. I felt like I was missing out on so much. I wanted to be up in the stars learning about science and technology, and exploring other worlds and cultures. I couldn't understand why my people chose to stay here in this isolation. I still don't fully understand that, when I have seen and experienced so many wonderful things."

"Even being lost in the Delta Quadrant?" she asked hesitantly.

He looked back at her, seeing a twinge of the guilt she carried almost constantly. "Yes, even being here. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I would do it all over again, as long as you were there, too." She held his gaze for a moment, then turned to look toward the village road. When she did, her foot slipped in the simulated sandy bottom of the lake, and she lost her balance. He caught her in his arms, her body briefly pressed against his until she found her footing again.

When she was standing, her cheeks flushed and she said, "I'm sorry. The soft bottom threw me off." He noted that her voice sounded huskier than normal, but guessed it was from the surprise of almost falling.

He smiled down at her, his hands still on her arms, and said, "It's okay; it is slippery. I kept the sandy bottom when I wrote the program because I used to love the feel of it between my toes. I can have the computer change it."

"No, don't. I like the natural feel of it." She slowly turned, and he dropped his hands back to the water. He thought she was looking over the surroundings again, but instead she raised her arms over head and fell onto her back to drift on the water. Her gray panties caught his gaze, as did the glimpse of her bare stomach where her tank had ridden up. He followed her lead and drifted along beside her, watching the stars and feeling the gentle waves as they each moved their arms through the water to stay afloat.

They floated a little too closely to each other, and his arm brushed hers under the water. He stilled it to push himself away with the other arm, but she clasped his hand. He gripped her fingers and gently brought her closer until their shoulders were touching. He saw her head turning toward him, and he met her eyes. They both began to sink under the water and stood up, their hands still together. She closed her eyes and raised her chin swipe the hair back from her face, and his breath caught in his chest.

Before she could lower her arm again, he wrapped his around her waist and pulled her to him. She gripped the back of his shoulder and tilted her head as his lips met hers. They kissed gently, tentatively, and then he looked down at her to gauge her reaction. She smiled softly and rose up on her toes to return the kiss, this time the passion they were both feeling passing between them as their tongues met and they released their hands to hold each other close. She slid her hands up to his neck, and he caressed the small of her back. When the kiss ended, he lowered his hands to her buttocks and lifted her in his arms, her legs wrapping around him as he bent his knees in the water. He could feel himself hardening fully, and did nothing to hide it though he knew she could feel it, too. Her thighs gripped him tighter, and he slowly licked the droplets from her neck and throat. Her fingers ran through his damp, short hair, and her back arched.

Balancing her against his hips, he cradled her head and leaned her backward in the water, keeping her head and chest above the surface. He kissed his way over her collar bone and down to her nipple clearly visible through her wet tank top. She gasped and clung to his arms, his powerful biceps bulging as he supported her weight. The angle meant that she was centered over his erection, and she rocked her hips against him. He almost lost his grip on her with the jolt of sensation and pulled her tighter against him, his mouth finding its way to her other nipple. He raised her back up and held her with one hand while the other pushed her shirt up. She slid it off, trusting him to hold her steady, and then pulled his head back down to her breast. She rocked against him again, moaning as she did so.

One hand clung to his neck while the other travelled down his chest and stomach and then between their bodies. She slid her hand over his underwear to his erection, and his hips ground against her. She managed to pull the tight material away from him and took him in hand, her soft fingertips on the sensitive skin making him groan around her nipple. His hands were on her buttocks, and he slid his fingers forward between her legs. He could feel her swollen with arousal through the wet material. He held her with one hand again and moved the other to the front of her body. He worked his fingers under the waist band of her panties until he found the bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. Her head tilted backward, her hips thrust forward, and he caught her on his knee as he moved his bracing arm up her back to give him better leverage. Her quick breathing cut through the silence of the holodeck as he teased her, the warm water flowing with his movements tingling through her.

He felt her legs loosen their grip, and she put her feet under her to stand up. She pushed her panties down to float off in the water. He straightened his legs and removed his underwear, then pulled her into a ravaging kiss, his tongue driving between her lips as their nude bodies met and writhed together. He returned his hand under the water and between her legs to find her opening. He pushed inside of her and gently slid in and out of her, her desire clearly evident. She moaned into his mouth and her nails dug into his back. He guided her arms up around his neck, then lifted her again and centered her over his hard shaft. He thrust into her and paused, keeping one hand under her buttock while the other slid between them. He found her pearl with his fingertip, and her tongue sliding around his grew more desperate as her hips rocked forward. He held the pad of his finger on her button and let her gyrate against it, the movements over his length buried inside of her sending him spiraling to the edge of his tight control.

He was fighting to hold back and couldn't breathe, so he broke the kiss to gasp against her skin as her soft noises sounded in his ear. She clung to his neck, and he leaned back slightly to keep his balance, opening the space between them where he could move his hand over her. He circled her clit and felt her heat tighten around him. He watched the moonlight dance across her flushed skin and auburn hair, the ecstasy on her face almost more than he could take. He started thrusting against her, driving deeper into her wet core.

He leaned back further as her body grew taught and her muscles clenched. He increased his pressure on her swollen button, and she shuddered once, then again. She cried out, and he felt the orgasm race through her gripping muscles and over her body. He softly caressed her clit as she writhed through the climax, and when she started to slow, he took up the pace. He moved his hands to the small of her back and drove into her. She opened her glazed eyes, and he locked with her deep blue gaze as he claimed her. His long thrusts into her heat stumbled in their rhythm, and quickly his control was lost. He shouted his climax, pinned her to him, and his eyes closed as he came deep inside of her. She wrapped her legs tighter over his hips and contracted her inner muscles with each pump of his seed until finally, he stilled inside of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chakotay let his legs collapse until he was on his knees in the lake, the water's buoyancy helping him support Kathryn in his trembling arms. He pulled her head down and kissed her tenderly, first lips, then chin and nose and cheeks. He stared into her blue eyes once more, and she laid her head on his shoulder. He gently caressed her hair, and with neither of them wanting to break the spell, they remained silent as they petted each other.

When he began to feel chills across her skin, he lowered her further into the warm water and pulled his head back so he could see her face. "Are you cold?" he asked quietly as he cupped her cheek.

"A little," she said with a soft smile. She pulled her legs from around his waist put her feet under her, keeping the water up to her shoulders.

"Computer, increase air temperature by five degrees." He raised her hand and pressed her fingers to his lips. "Come on. There's a fireplace in the house. We may as well use it." They didn't bother to look for their clothes they had removed in the water, as they knew the pieces would remain when the program was ended. They swam side-by-side to the shore, and laced their fingers together as they walked back to the house, stepping over the clothes they had removed in the yard.

He led her back to the den and instructed the computer to increase the fireplace heat to one-quarter. He lay down amongst the pile of pillows, tugging her down with him and pulling her into his arms, the simulated heat of the fire and his roaming hands warming her.

He felt her gently push against his arms, and he loosened his grip. She rolled onto her back, reached over to pick up the wine, and sat up to take a big swill straight from the bottle. His laughter rolled through the room, and she innocently asked, "What?"

"Was the glass too far to reach?" he asked in between gasps.

She flashed him a half-smile and her eyes sparkled. "Too crass?"

He shook his head, still grinning. "No, no; not for me. Just unexpected, that's all."

She laughed then, her husky voice like invisible fingertips sliding deliciously down his spine. She handed him the bottle, and he drank from it before setting it aside. She ran her fingers through the back of her wet hair, trying to loosen the tangles. He pushed himself up off the floor and disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later from the hallway with the towel and a comb. He sat behind her and towel dried her hair, then gently combed it out for her. She tilted her head back and sighed. "That feels good."

"I used to have to comb out Sekaya's hair sometimes when she was little. From the time she was born until I left home, she never had her hair cut. She still keeps it at least to her waist."

"I bet it's beautiful," she said.

She could hear his soft smile in his voice. "I didn't think so when I was the one that had to get a week's worth of knots out of it. But now, I do. Her hair is thick, straight, and black as night. It's so shiny that it seems to pick up the colors in things around her." He leaned forward and kissed her neck. "It is beautiful on my sister, but I prefer redheads."

Kathryn chuckled. "Nice save."

He laughed and grabbed her around the waist, tossing the comb to the side as he pulled her down onto the pillows. He covered her body with his and kissed her as she squirmed against him. She managed to work her foot out from under him and pushed against the floor, flipping him onto his back and pinning his wrists above his head. His eyes widened with surprise before he melted at her tongue in his mouth. He bucked his hips, and in the split second she was off balance, he freed one hand and wrapped her tightly in his arm. He rolled with her and as she settled on her back again, she hissed when his mouth took her breast instead of her lips. He sat up on his knees and pulled her up with him into a tight hug, kissing her neck. She trailed her fingers over the strong muscles of his back, and his hand slipped underneath her hair to caress the nape of her neck.

He stood up and tugged at her hand to follow him. He led her to the simulation of his bedroom and the big, soft bed. She lay down and plunged into the dark pools of his eyes as he slowly moved over her body. He was gentle and sensual, his hands and lips and whispers washing over her with a devotion she had never felt before. When he took her, time seemed to stand still as they rocked together, and he tenderly stoked the flames within her. Each gasp from her lips was met with a thrust that reached the deepest part of her until a single word claimed her for its own. "Chakotay." She flew apart in his arms, and he followed her into the white expanse. They clung to each other long after their senses returned and the tremors stopped.

***V*V***

Chakotay exited the house, once again dressed in his boxing clothes, and found Kathryn gazing out over the lake, her crisp uniform and neat hair a stark contrast to the woman he had spent the last two-and-a-half hours with. He stood behind her and put his arms around her waist, leaning over her shoulder to kiss her cheek. "Kathryn, I'm glad I wasn't alone today." He could see her soft smile at the corner of her lips. "I won't push you, but I am curious what happens now."

She turned in his arms and pulled him closer. "I don't know. Why don't we start with dinner in my quarters in an hour?" She leaned into him for a kiss then stepped back to turn toward the exit arch. With her back to him, she said, "Chakotay?"

"Yes?"

"Bring your clothes for tomorrow."

He smiled and watched her walk back into their reality of ship and duty. He returned to the house and entered the den. "Computer, decrease fireplace heat to zero percent. Increase flames to 200 percent." He watched as the simulated fire licked out into the room and over the mantle, and imagined he could hear the roar of the heat and see the blackened bricks and floor. "For you, Grandfather. I hope your wounded spirit is healed, wherever you are."

Chakotay retrieved the bottle of Cabernet and then instructed the computer to end program. He chuckled when the scenery gave way to the holodeck grid, and the remainder of his and Kathryn's clothing lay on the floor. He gathered it up and rolled up her panties and his boxer briefs in her tank until only a square of gray material could be seen in his hand. Any crewman he passed in the corridors would simply think he was carrying an extra shirt. He made his way to his quarters to dress for dinner. He wouldn't push Kathryn into something she wasn't ready for, but he would make sure that neither of them was ever alone again.


End file.
